fht-compositor

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Keybindings ​

Keybindings allow you to execute an action after hitting a specific key pattern. The actions can interact with the internal state of the compositor (nmaster, master width factor, focused window/workspace, etc.), or not (execute a command line, for example)

Keybindings are defined in a table, the keys are the key pattern, and values are the actions to execute

toml
[keybinds]
Super-Return = { action = "run-command", arg = "ghostty" }
Super-Shift-j = "swap-with-next-window"

Default keybindings

There are no default keybindings, you should always keep a key bind to quit and reload-config, otherwise, you might get stuck in the compositor!

Key patterns ​

A key pattern describes a specific key combo. It is composed from the following parts, joined by hyphens/dashes (-):

  • A set of modifier keys:
    • Mod/Super/Logo/Meta/M: Usually the left super key, has the Windows logo on it
    • Ctrl/Control/C: Left/Right Control key, usually marked with Ctrl
    • Shift/S: Left/Right Shift key
    • Alt/A: Left/Right Alt key
    • AltGr: AltGr key, or named sometimes ISO_Level3_Shift, only available in some layouts (for example French)
  • A key name on your keyboard.

TIP

You can get key names using a program like wev

[14:     wl_keyboard] key: serial: 1383022871; time: 10735614; key: 36; state: 0 (released)
                      sym: Return       (65293), utf8: ''
[14:     wl_keyboard] key: serial: 1383333097; time: 10738088; key: 38; state: 1 (pressed)
                      sym: a            (97), utf8: 'a'
[14:     wl_keyboard] key: serial: 1383341414; time: 10738153; key: 38; state: 0 (released)
                      sym: a            (97), utf8: ''
[14:     wl_keyboard] key: serial: 1383371466; time: 10738387; key: 113; state: 1 (pressed)
                      sym: Left         (65361), utf8: ''
[14:     wl_keyboard] key: serial: 1383379644; time: 10738450; key: 113; state: 0 (released)
                      sym: Left         (65361), utf8: ''
[14:     wl_keyboard] key: serial: 1383608097; time: 10740288; key: 47; state: 1 (pressed)
                      sym: semicolon    (59), utf8: ';'
[14:     wl_keyboard] key: serial: 1383611141; time: 10740312; key: 47; state: 0 (released)
                      sym: semicolon    (59), utf8: ''
[14:     wl_keyboard] key: serial: 1383692118; time: 10740943; key: 20; state: 1 (pressed)
                      sym: minus        (45), utf8: '-'
[14:     wl_keyboard] key: serial: 1383694914; time: 10740965; key: 20; state: 0 (released)
                      sym: minus        (45), utf8: ''
[13:      wl_pointer] motion: time: 10741546; x, y: 617.093750, 222.000000

The key name is just after sym, for example Return, Left, minus. Capitalization should not matter.

Resolving key names

When resolving keys, fht-compositor will use the key names emitted from the active layout, not the raw key. So keybinds working on a layout might not work in another!

Key action settings ​

You can tweak the behaviour of a key action using the following settings.

allow-while-locked ​

Whether to allow the key bind to execute when there's an active session lock. By default, fht-compositor disable all keybinds when a session locker starts. You can override this like so:

toml
[keybinds.XF86AudioLowerVolume]
action = "run-command"
arg = "wpctl set-volume -l 1 @DEFAULT_AUDIO_SINK@ 10%-"
allow-while-locked = true # allow volume control while locked

repeat ​

Whether to repeat this key action. Repeat rate is the same as the globally configured one in the input.keyboard.repeat-rate.

toml
[keybinds.Super-Up]
action = "move-floating-window"
arg = [0, -50]
repeat = true

Available key actions ​

quit ​

Exits the compositor

reload-config ​

Reload compositor configuration. You should have to-do this, since the compositor automatically reloads it.

run-command ​

Runs an arbitrary command line. Evaluated with /bin/sh -c "<command line>". Example:

toml
[keybinds]
Super-Return = { action = "run-command", arg = "ghostty" }

select-next/previous-layout ​

Selects the next or previous layout available. See general.layouts and dynamic layouts pages for more information.

change-nmaster, change-mwfact, change-proportion ​

Changes each of these parameters, change-proportion for the active window. See dynamic layouts page.

close-focused-window ​

Closes the currently focused window

maximize-focused-window, fullscreen-focused-window, float-focused-window ​

Toggle each of these states on the focused window.

center-floating-window ​

Centers the currently focused floating window. If the window is not floating, nothing happens

move-floating-window, resize-floating-window ​

Moves or resizes the currently focused window. Takes argument in the form of [dx, dy] or [dw, dh], example:

toml
[keybinds]
Super-Left  = { action = "move-floating-window", arg = [-10, 0] }
Super-Right = { action = "move-floating-window", arg = [10 , 0] }
Super-Up    = { action = "move-floating-window", arg = [0,  10] }
Super-Down  = { action = "move-floating-window", arg = [0, -10] }

focus-next-window, focus-previous-window ​

Focused the next/previous window in the workspace. Removes the currently active fullscreen window, if any.

swap-with-next-window, swap-with-previous-window ​

Swaps the currently focused window with next/previous window in the workspace. Removes the currently active fullscreen window, if any.

focus-next-output, focus-previous-output ​

Focus the next/previous output in the gloabl space. Outputs are ordered by the way they got detected/inserted.

focus-workspace, send-focused-window-to-workspace ​

Key actions to focus or send the focused window to a workspace. Takes in the workspace index

toml
Super-1 = { action = "focus-workspace", arg = 0 }
Super-Shift-1 = { action = "send-focused-window-to-workspace", arg = 0 }

focus-next-workspace, focus-previous-workspace, ​

I think these are clear.

None ​

Used to disable a specific key pattern.